Sweet Little Sixteen
by MrsEads
Summary: [Snickers] Sequel to 'All You Need Is Love'. Cowrite with bauerfreak. The triplets are now 16 years old. As they try to make their own way in the world, what is in store for the family? Read to find out! Chapter 4 up!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hey, everybody! I think it's been almost a year since I finished writing All You Need Is Love, so a sequel is probably due just about now. This one, unlike the first, is a cowrite with the utterly amazing **bauerfreak**, without whose kick in the pants for me to get working on this story, and also her immense talent for writing, this story would never have come into existence. Thanks, Hanna! You totally rock!

**Spoilers:** None

**Disclaimer:** Well, I certainly don't own _CSI_, but I can't speak for Hanna...

* * *

Nick and Sara's eyes groggily opened to the sound of an alarm clock going off loudly in one of the nearby rooms in their house. They knew from experience it was probably their sixteen year old daughter, Ciara's. She liked to set her alarm clock early so she could shower and style her hair, but many mornings that didn't happen. Sara groaned and rolled over, rubbing her husband's chest. "Mmmm. Go tell her to go turn it off." She told him sleepily. To their surprise, the angry buzzing stopped quickly and they heard her get out of bed, her feet softly padding the floors. 

"Good morning, sweetie," Sara called out into the hall.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad!" she called back, sounding chipper.

Sara smiled into her pillow. Their teenager was such a morning person, even though she didn't always wake up easily. "Honey, can you wake up your brothers, please?"

"Sure thing, Mom!" Sara heard Ciara's footsteps start to descend down the stairs into the basement where her brothers' room was. Sara sighed a little in relief and snuggled back into Nick's side. It was nice to have at least one responsible teenager.

Downstairs, Ciara didn't bother knocking on her brothers' bedroom door. "Hey! Nerd bombs! Time to get up." She told them. Logan stirred and rubbed at his face from his bed on the left side of his room. He quickly sat up, always looking forward to school in the morning. However, Anthony could practically care less and just turned over.

"Go away," Anthony grumbled.

Ciara, always lively, walked right over to his bed and promptly sat down on his back. "Mmph!"

"I'm not getting off you until you promise to get up," she warned.

"Whatever," he mumbled and smushed his face further into his pillow. Ciara bounced a bit to reinforce her point. "Alright, alright! I'm getting up." Ciara stood up and, feeling smug, Anthony threw off the covers to reveal that he was wearing nothing underneath.

Ciara overdramatically slapped her hand over her eyes. "I did _not_ need to see that, Anthony!"

Logan snickered from his bed and said, "I should have warned you that he sleeps commando."

"You're disgusting." Ciara told him finally, turning to leave the room. "Put some damn underwear on and move before Mom and Dad come down here." Ciara shook her head in disgust as she climbed back up the stairs again. She poked her head in her parents' room, where they were still in bed. "I woke 'em up, but you might need to chase Anthony up," she informed them, which was no surprise to the two parents. Anthony wasn't a fan of school and it didn't bother him if he was late for it. The problem was that the triplets shared one car, so if Anthony was running late, it would cause all of them to be late. The triplets had received numerous tardies and detentions because of this problem.

Ciara went back up the stairs and entered the bathroom, grabbing a towel from the linen closet on her way. She locked the door behind her and turned on the shower, then flipped on her radio. The teenager timed how long her showers were by playing her favourite song, which was exactly four minutes long. She knew if her shower was too long if she was in there for longer than the song was playing. Running her fingers under the shower, she stepped in when it had reached her preferred temperature.

Meanwhile, Nick pulled himself out of bed and went down to the kitchen. He put a skillet on the burner and cracked a couple of eggs into it, watching them turn instantly white as they hit the black metal. Sara was not far behind him, and when she came down to the kitchen, she kissed him tenderly on the cheek. Logan came running up the stairs in his boxers and T-shirt just as Nick was putting the eggs on a plate. "Hi guys," Logan said, and immediately started in on the eggs his father handed him. As he sat down, he started to eat, but quickly put down his fork and got up, putting two pieces of bread into the toaster. Logan reached around his mother into the fridge and grabbed the whole half-gallon of milk and set it on the table, which was quickly joined by a glass. All this commotion got Nick and Sara's attention, and they watched in astonishment as their boy downed the eggs and he poured glass after glass of milk. As his toast popped up, he stood up and grabbed it out of the toaster, his mouth still full of eggs. Sara watched on in amazement. How could one person eat so much? He was going to eat them right out of house and home!

"Are you my son, or should I call Hollywood and see if the Hulk is missing?" Sara asked in amusement as she turned the coffeemaker on. Logan laughed a little as he chewed at his breakfast. Nick continued making eggs for the rest of the family, knowing they would be trickling in one by one. Sara got out three mugs, knowing that Ciara was getting into the coffee drinking now, though she added way too much sugar. The boys preferred either orange juice, or snuck the occasional soda.

Nick put two more eggs on a plate and set them at the breakfast bar, expecting a least one more kid to be there by now. "Where's your brother?" He asked Logan.

Logan swallowed his eggs hard and answered, "Knowing him, he probably either fell back asleep or is sitting on his bed doing nothing." Nick gritted his teeth. This was getting to be too much. Anthony may have his own agenda, but for now, he should at least consider what his apathy was doing for his brother and sister.

Nick gave Sara a knowing look and said, "I'll be right back," heading towards the basement. A few seconds later, Logan and Sara heard Nick exclaim, "Anthony, put some pants on!" Logan nearly choked on his toast, trying to bite back laughter. Sara shook her head and poured a couple cups of coffee.

"He already scarred Ciara this morning." Logan informed his mother.

Sara's face contorted in disturbance. "That kid better watch out." She said, knowing Nick would be getting on his case hard if he didn't get his butt moving, and covered up.

Moments later, they heard footsteps coming towards them as Ciara walked out in her pajamas with her hair wrapped up in a towel on top of her head. "Mmmm, coffee. Thanks, Mom," she told her as she put in three scoops of sugar.

"Honey, you really need to cut back on the sugar," Sara chuckled.

Ciara feigned insult. "Are you calling me fat?" she said, putting a hand on her heart, then breaking into her gorgeous lopsided smile. She had the same space between her teeth that Sara did, and Sara loved her daughter's lighthearted sense of humour and her ability to find something funny in nearly every situation. Logan appreciated it too. It was a nice contrast from being around grumpy old poophead Anthony, who at times made Logan want to crawl into a hole.

Logan finished up his toast and glanced at the stove clock. "I'm going to go shower," he said, and went downstairs, passing Anthony on the way, who was closely followed by Nick.

"Hurry it up, Anthony," Nick said. "If you make your brother and sister late for school one more time..." he warned.

"Fine, fine," Anthony grumbled. "I'm going." He pulled a piece of bread out of the bag and angrily stuck it into the toaster. Ciara was still disgusted by his smug display this morning, and gave him a bit of a glare as she stirred her coffee around.

Nick saw that she was up and out of the shower, and gave her a kiss on the temple. "Mornin', sweetie." He told her. Ciara definitely still had Nick wrapped around her finger, even at sixteen. As the only daughter, she had probably gotten away with a lot more than her brothers, though she was a pretty good kid anyway. Of course, Anthony thought she got special treatment. Anthony munched on his toast and glared at Ciara, whose bouncy personality disgusted him at times. She reminded him of one other girl at school, whom Anthony secretly liked but would never admit to. Plus, Ciara was blonde. She had the most gorgeous blonde hair out of any girl he'd ever met, and he and Logan were stuck with fiery red, just like everybody else in their father's family. No girls liked red hair - they all wanted blonde or really dark brown. How the hell had Anthony and Logan ended up with red hair when both of his parents were brunette? Stupid recessive genes, Anthony thought.

"Daddy, can I have the car tonight?" She asked him in her usual sweet voice that annoyed Anthony to no end. Ciara buttered her toast as she waited for what she was pretty sure would be an affirmative answer.

"Sure, baby. Where are you going?" He asked her as he got his own coffee ready.

Ciara smiled, "To the movies with Jason and a couple other friends." She informed him. Jason was a guy from school she'd been seeing casually.

"What movie are you going to see?" Nick asked.

"We haven't decided yet, but probably _Spider-Man 3_," Ciara answered sweetly.

Finally, Anthony spoke up, but to nobody's particular surprise, his comment was neither constructive nor polite. "I heard it was retarded."

"Oh really? I heard it was really good!" Ciara said, and Anthony rolled his eyes.

Nick, sensing rising tension, jumped in. "Sure, Ciara. Tell me how it is, okay? I'm going to go get that baboon out of the shower," he said, referring to Logan. As Nick headed downstairs again, Ciara and Anthony heard the water shut off, and Nick returned seconds later. "Never mind, he's out," Nick chuckled. Anthony tossed the last of his toast in his mouth, knowing it was his turn for a shower. He almost always got a cold shower since he was usually last out of bed.

"So, how come she gets the car tonight?" Anthony asked his parents. "Because she's your favourite?" He asked a bit bitterly.

Nick shot Anthony a glare. "No, because she asked first and because I know she isn't going to total it."

"Whatever," Anthony said, getting up from the table and heading for the staircase.

Nick had had it. "Anthony, smarten up now or there's no TV, no computer for a week," he said. Anthony didn't make eye contact with his father, and Nick knew he had made his point. "Go take your shower now, please. And hurry up. I don't want Logan or Ciara in trouble again because of you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors' Note:** From both of us, thanks to everybody who reviewed! Here's the second chapter...read it, review it. Thanks!

* * *

Anthony sat on the staircase outside his school, Rage Against the Machine pounding out of his iPod. His parents always warned him that he was going to ruin his eardrums, but, like everything else they ever told him, he shrugged it off and kept doing things his way. Stupid Ciara was probably getting help from one of her teachers on something or another. Why did she even bother? The girl was as smart as anyone, she didn't need help. He needed her to come out so she could drive them home. Logan was going over to his best friend, Andrew's house, and Anthony had had his license taken away by his parents for staying out after curfew. _Where is she?_ thought Anthony. He glanced at his watch. She was twenty minutes late.

Suddenly, he heard the door burst open behind him and he whipped his head around to see who it was. Oh, no. It was Danielle.

"Hey, Anthony," she said cheerfully. Anthony felt his throat get dry.

"Hey, Dani," he replied.

"Who are you waiting for?" she asked.

"Ciara. She's twenty minutes late, and I want to go home," he admitted.

"I can drive you," Danielle offered.

Anthony thought for a few moments. He didn't see any problem with it. "Uhh...sure. Thanks," he told his friend. They had been flirting around each other for months now. Danielle had lived on the same street as the Stokes since they were eight. Both he and Logan had a bit of a thing for her, at least at some point in their lives.

"I'm supposed to stay after for extra help in chemistry, but I really don't feel like it today." Danielle confessed to her friend as they began to walk down the steps of the high school to her Honda Accord.

"Oh yeah?" Anthony asked, a bit surprised. "Why not?"

"Because your sister's only interested in getting help from Jason," Danielle said, rolling her eyes as they got into the Accord. "Why does she even come to Chem help? She's good enough to actually give the help, and she's not really interested in giving me a hand with helping me learn the difference between dispersion forces and London dispersion forces."

Anthony, without even thinking about it, said, "They're the exact same thing."

Surprised, Danielle looked at him. "Well, what are they?"

"It's when you have all the electrons whipping around the nuclei, but sometimes you can get a temporary dipole because if the electron is on the far side of one nucleus, then there's a positive end and a negative end. It happens in every single substance."

Danielle gave him a bit of a Look as she turned the ignition. "I thought you didn't care about school, nerd." She told him, stroking some of her hair back away from her face. The truth was, he didn't care about school, but he did care about Danielle. He cared enough to want to impress her with his knowledge. Anthony didn't really pay attention in class because it came easily to him. The problem was, as his parents had told him many times, that he didn't apply himself. He could get straight A's like his siblings, and, in truth, was probably the smartest of the three of them, but he'd rather be doing other things.

"I do care minimally, just not as much as Ciara. She has no life."

Danielle laughed as she flipped her hair over her shoulder to check behind her as she was pulling out of her stall. "She has to have _some_ life," Danielle reasoned. "I mean, she's coming to the movies with us tonight."

"Yeah, and it's the first time she's been out of the house in ten years," Anthony said sarcastically.

Danielle chuckled. God, she was gorgeous. "So, what's it like being a triplet?" Danielle asked. She'd always wanted to know but had never really had the chance to ask.

Anthony laughed a bit. "Well, here's how it works. You have two siblings. You share a birthday. People mix you up with your brother all the time."

"Smart _and _witty," she said. Anthony was, for the only time in his life, thankful for his freckles freckles – they hid the colour rushing to his cheeks.

"I'm just glad there's not three of us identical." He confessed honestly. Having one identical brother was bad enough.

Danielle smiled and nodded a little. "True. It would be pretty weird if you and Ciara were identical." She told him, trying not to laugh at the thought of that.

"Yeah, I think I'd put myself up for adoption if that happened."

Anthony knew there was a coffee shop about three blocks ahead, and if he were able to work up the nerve, he might be able to ask Danielle to join him. He prepared himself. The words almost stuck in his throat. Casually, he tried to ask, "There's a Starbucks just ahead. Care to join me?" Quickly, he added, "I'll buy."

Danielle stopped at a red light and looked over at her neighbor. "Are you asking me on a date?" She asked him, and Anthony almost felt like curling up into the fetal position. Why had he asked this? Why would she be remotely interested in him?

"Uhh..." He stuttered.

"I'd love to." Danielle told him, smiling as the light turned green again. "I've been dying for a cappuccino all day." Anthony let out a breath of relief. Well, she'd said yes and she could've said no, but she probably just wanted a free cappuccino. "Let me just call my parents to tell 'em where I'll be." Danielle told him, whipping out her pink glittery cell phone.

Speaking of cell phones, Anthony felt his vibrate in his pocket. He opened it up and saw that he had a new text message from Ciara. "**Where are you?**" Making sure Danielle couldn't see him, he answered, "**got a hot d8 - c u home**". He hated chatspeak, but he knew Ciara hated it more, so he used it to get on her nerves. Moments later, he got a reply, "**Use real English, nerd bomb. Who are you going with, and where are you going?**" "**Danielle, & wer going 2 Strbcks, MOM**". "**Alright, I'll see you later. Have fun.**" "**Bye.**"

Ciara rolled her eyes at her brother's messages. So what if she was the responsible one? Their parents trusted her much more than they trusted him. Ciara shouldered her backpack and headed towards the car, which she'd actually get to drive without one of her dweeby brothers accompanying her. She put her iPod in the holder and turned on some Pussycat Dolls, which her brothers never allowed her to listen to. She rolled down the windows and pulled down her shades, ready to ride home in style.

Ten minutes later, Ciara pulled up into her family's driveway. Knowing her parents were sleeping, she entered quietly and closed and locked the door behind her. The familiar sight of her dad's rug with the green T on it always brought her comfort. She may have looked like her mom, but she was so much like Nick. To her surprise, her father was awake, sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. "Hey, Daddy!" she said, and went over to the couch to give him a hug, then sat down beside him.

"Hey, sweetie," her father said, giving her a kiss on the temple. "How was your day?"

"Really good. I got 100 percent on my English essay and Mrs. Sperling wants to use it as an exemplar," Ciara beamed, knowing she was free to do so in the absence of her brothers.

"That's awesome, honey! Was that the one about Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene?" he asked, always interested in the kind of work his daughter was doing in school.

"No, it was the one about Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia," she corrected. "My Lady Macbeth one is due next week."

Nick chuckled. Due next week, and she had already been finished for five days.

"Why are you awake?" Ciara asked, curious.

"Mmmm, Ecklie called me about a case about an hour ago, and I couldn't get back to sleep." He confessed, putting the paper down so he could give his full attention to his daughter.

"That Ecklie's a real pain in the ass." Ciara told him, then mentally kicked herself. "I mean butt."

Nick smirked and nodded his head. "He can be. But your mom's still asleep." Nick noticed then that Anthony had not come in the door with his sister. "Where's Anthony?"

"He went out with Danielle," Ciara answered.

Nick raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh? Where'd they go?"

"I don't know," Ciara said, "I didn't ask."

"Do you know when he'll be back?"

"No, he didn't say. He just said he'd see me here."

"Alright..." Nick said, a bit uneasy. "I have to leave for work in about two hours - Ecklie wants your mother and me to come in early. If Anthony's not back by six, I want you to call me, okay?"

"Sure, Daddy." Ciara promised him, secretly a little pleased that Anthony could get in a little trouble. She had been that way ever since they turned about twelve or so. Ciara smiled and grabbed Nick's arm, moving it so it was around her shoulders, and she snuggled into his side. Lying with her dad made Ciara feel so safe. She had always felt protected by him, and having his strong arms around her just made her feel so loved.

Soon, Sara came into the room. "Hi, sweetie," Sara said. It was weird having kids and working the night shift. They slept while their kids were at school, woke up when they came home, went to work and left them at home, and were back in time to make breakfast. Last night had been a little more normal, since Nick and Sara had both had the night off. "Did you have a good day at school?"

"Yes, very," Ciara replied. She told her mother about her essay.

"That's great news, honey! Congratulations." When the triplets were little, they had a nanny that would come over when Nick and Sara went to work, but once they got to high school, they'd allowed them to stay by themselves. This seemed to work well most of the time, but there had been occasions where one of them had to leave work to deal with a situation that had developed.

"Thanks," she told her mother and looked at her watch. It was a few hours until the movie, but at least she didn't have to do homework tonight since it was Friday. Thank goodness for Fridays. Ciara worked so hard during the week to keep her grades above 90 percent that Fridays were a welcome retreat from homework. Tonight was about her and her friends.

"So who are you going to the movies with?" Nick asked.

"Danielle, Mark, Braden, Louise, Macayla, Logan might come if he's back from Andrew's in time, and Jason's coming too."

Nick cringed. "You're still seeing that boy?"

Ciara got a little defensive. "What do you have against him?" she asked, a little put out.

"Nothing really," Nick said. "But he's not the best you can do, sweetie," he added.

Ciara sighed. "Oh, come on, Dad. He's smart, he's funny, and he's really cute," she reasoned. Feeling a bit rebellious, she added, "And he's got a cute butt, too."

Sara laughed out loud from where she was making some more coffee in the kitchen, knowing Nick really didn't want to hear that sort of thing. "Ciara, that wasn't necessary," he told her, trying to keep a sense of humor about it, but the thought of his little girl being interested in guys was just frightening.

"Lighten up, Daddy." She told him as she stood up from the couch to get a snack from the kitchen.

"How about Spencer from down the street?" Nick suggested.

"Oh, please, Dad," Ciara sighed. "He's totally not my type."

"Well, what is your type?" Nick asked.

Ciara poked her head around the corner and gave him a Look. "Dad, this isn't the type of thing girls usually talk about with their dads."

Nick raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright," he said. "Just trying to get an idea."

Ciara smirked at him as she returned from the kitchen with an apple and a glass of milk. "So, what did you do today?" Ciara asked. "Other than sleep, that is."

Nick chuckled. "Well, after you and your brothers left for school, your mother went to bed."

"She's been really tired lately, hasn't she?" Ciara said.

Nick nodded. "I stayed up and cleaned up breakfast. Then I went back to bed too." He didn't think he needed to fill in his daughter about the other events that had transpired while their kids were gone. "That's about it," he said.

Ciara rolled her eyes at his explanation. "That's parent code for 'we had sex'." She filled in for him quite bluntly. Sara bit back another laugh and Nick scrubbed a hand over his face. She could see right through him, even from an early age.

"Ciara, Ciara." He muttered.

"Daddy, Daddy." She jokingly mocked him back, taking a crunch of her apple. Ciara then took out her cell phone to check if she had any messages. "Want me to text Anthony to get his butt home?"

"No, that's alright," Nick declined. "Just make sure he's back on time, and if he's not..." Nick left the rest unsaid, knowing that Ciara would understand him completely.

"Got it," Ciara said, and winked.

"Well, I'm going to go shower," Nick said, patting her knee before standing up. "Gotta go bring home the bacon."

Ciara chuckled, "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Ciara, like her mother, was a vegetarian and had been for quite some time.

Nick ruffled her hair. "I mean that metaphorically, honey," he said, winking.

Ciara smiled up at him. "I know, Dad."

Nick then walked back to the master bedroom where he would take his shower before work. Ciara took another bite out of her apple and Sara came back into the living room moments later with a coffee mug. "I was going to make a caesar salad before I left for work. You want one too?" she asked her daughter as she joined her on the couch.

Ciara was mindful of her health, but she was also a teenager. "No thanks. We're gonna load up on popcorn and gummy bears at the movies." She told her mother, propping her feet up on the coffee table.

Sara chuckled. "Alright, CC," she said, using the nickname they'd had for her since she was still in diapers.

"When are you leaving for work?" Ciara asked. "Well, after your father gets out of the shower, I'm going to take one and get ready, and we'll probably leave right after that."

Ciara nodded and yawned a little after a long day at school. "You tired?" Sara asked her, gently stroking her hair a bit.

"Tired of school," Ciara told her after a yawn.

Sara gave her a Look. "You love school, just like I did."

"Yes, it's you I have to thank for my psychotic work habits. I'm tired of homework, I guess is what I should say," she corrected herself, stretching her arms a little bit. Ciara then spread herself out on the couch, propping her feet up in her mother's lap.

"Oh, I see how you feel about me." Sara joked, giving her bare feet a tickle. Ciara smiled and closed her eyes, deciding to take a short cat nap before her parents had to leave.

Meanwhile, Anthony and Danielle sat in the Starbucks a few blocks from their houses, two warm cappuccinos in their hands. It was a nice day, so they sat on the patio and let the sun warm their faces. Anthony, as the pair talked, realized how little he knew about this girl he saw nearly every day. He learned that she had a four-year-old sister, and that her parents were divorced and she hadn't seen her father in over ten years, and that she took Taekwon-Do, and that she played the piano, flute, and violin, and that her favourite food was burritos. Anthony felt like he was unable to reciprocate, though he shared what he could.

"What do you usually do for fun?" Danielle asked him, nervously playing with her cup a little bit, watching the liquid swirl around inside.

"Uhh...music stuff I guess." Anthony rubbed the back of his neck. He really didn't think he was an interesting person now that he had to explain himself to the girl he was crushing on. "I listen to music a lot, and play the guitar when my family can stand the noise," he told her honestly.

Danielle smiled. "Yeah, Ciara's complained about the noise before. You get along with your parents?"

Anthony shrugged. "They're okay, I guess. I mostly avoid them."

"Yeah? Why is that?" Danielle asked.

"I really just don't like hanging out with them. I'm more of an introvert, I suppose," he admitted. "I really just prefer to hang out by myself with some music, but I like hanging out with my friends too."

"What kind of music do you play?"

Anthony grinned a lopsided grin. "You'll laugh at me," he said.

"Aww, come on. Tell me," Danielle said, and very convincingly too.

"I write my own stuff."

Danielle gasped. "Really? That's so cool! I could never do that. I'm nowhere near creative enough."

"Sure you are," Anthony argued. "You just have to write from your heart, and the music comes."

Danielle smiled a half-smile and looked at him gently for a moment, making eye contact. Anthony looked away after a second. He really wanted to kiss those perfect lips of hers, but didn't know if Danielle was the type of girl who would want to do that right away. Well, technically, he'd known her for eight years, but this was the first time they'd had a genuine, adult conversation.

"Maybe you could teach me sometime. Give me a lesson." Danielle suggested a bit quietly, and put her hand over his, which was resting on the chair's arm. Anthony's eyes shot up to Danielle's, checking to see if they told the same story as her touch did. Did she like him?

"I'd like that," Anthony said.

"Yeah, me too," she agreed. Her perfect brown eyes met his, and for a brief moment, they felt connected.

Anthony glanced at his watch. "Oh, shoot! It's almost five-thirty!" he exclaimed.

Alarmed, Danielle said, "What, do you have to get home?"

"Yeah, and _now_," he said.

"Well, let's get you home," she resolved, standing up and grabbing her cappuccino.

"Yeah, for sure," he agreed. "My dad's going to open a can of whup-ass on me if I'm too late."

Danielle chuckled. "I told you, smart _and_ witty. Smart and witty."

Anthony laughed at her, and had the urge to kiss her whenever she smiled at him. However, he knew he needed to get his butt home fast before he got in more trouble. They took their drinks to the car and Danielle drove them home as quickly as she could without speeding. Danielle pulled in to the Stokes' driveway.

"Well, here we are." She told him, smiling as she put the car into park.

Anthony unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to her. "Thanks, Dani." His tongue darted out for a millisecond. "Uhhh...listen. I know I don't normally do this, but would you like to go out to the movie tonight with me?" he asked, knowing he was kind of inviting himself, but he was entranced by Danielle.

"Yeah, I'd love to," Dani said. "Is it alright if I just stick around at your place until we leave? Then you, Ciara, and I can all go together."

"Sounds like a plan," Anthony said.

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**Authors' Note:** Click the button. :) 


	3. Chapter 3

Anthony and Danielle both got out of her car and casually walked towards the front door. Anthony decided to play it cool in case his parents were mad he wasn't home until now. He knew that they wouldn't yell at him in front of company, which was one of the reasons he invited Danielle inside. Well, that, and he thought she was amazing. And gorgeous. And a thousand other things he had trouble describing. Anthony smiled at Danielle as he opened the front door, and found Ciara lounging on the couch, but his parents weren't in sight.

"Hey Ciara," Anthony said. She sat up straight and turned around.

Danielle waved a small wave and said, "Hi Ciara."

"Hey guys," Ciara greeted.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Anthony asked.

"They're upstairs getting ready," Ciara answered him. She stood up and joined the pair. "Danielle, you still up for the movie tonight?"

"Yeah, I am!" Danielle replied happily. "Actually, Anthony thought I could stay here until the movie started and maybe hitch a ride with you guys to the theatre."

Ciara raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh?" She looked at Anthony. "Yeah, I think that'd be fine," Ciara said, looking back at Danielle.

"Is Logan still coming?" Anthony asked his sister, hoping he wasn't since he knew his brother had a little crush on Danielle also.

"Yeah, I think so," she told him. "You better go tell Mom and Dad you're here. Daddy was in his 'almost pissed at you' mood when he went upstairs.

"Yikes," said Anthony, knowing how quickly the 'almost pissed' mood could turn into the 'get your ass over here' mood. He ran upstairs and knocked on his parents' bedroom door.

"Come in," called Sara. Anthony entered the bedroom and Sara looked towards him. "Oh, good, you're back. You might want to go see your father. I know he wasn't too happy with the fact that you weren't home with Ciara two hours ago. Where were you, anyway?"

Turning back into the surly person he had been that morning, he shrugged and said, "Out."

Sara raised her eyebrows. "'Out' is not an acceptable answer. Where were you? Who were you with? What were you doing?" she demanded.

"I was hanging out behind the bleachers with a couple of guys from study hall, and I tried out some weed," he replied sarcastically.

Sara was angered. "You'd better not take that tone with your father, Anthony Nicholas Stokes," she warned. "I'm going to ask you one more time, where were you?"

"I went out for coffee with Danielle, and we lost track of time," Anthony admitted.

Sara was surprised. "I didn't know you liked her."

"Mo-om," Anthony groaned.

Sara chuckled. "Dad's in the bathroom. I suggest you go see him pretty quickly."

"I'll wait until he's finished, thanks," he told her sarcastically again. Sara shot him another look. Anthony was definitely the smart-alec of the bunch.

"He's shaving, Anthony. He should be done now." Sara informed him.

"Yeah, yeah." Anthony told his mother, and dilly-dallied over to the master bathroom. He knocked as his parents had taught him long ago and heard a "come in" from within. Anthony pushed the door open and leaned against the frame. "I'm home. Sorry I'm late," he said right away, knowing he couldn't get away with the same amount of attitude with his father.

Nick rinsed out his razor in the sink and looked at his son. "And where've you been?" he questioned his wayward offspring.

"I went out with Danielle," Anthony told the truth.

"Really? Where?"

"We went to Starbucks, and we had a really good conversation and I guess we just sort of lost track of time. I came as soon as I realized how late it was," Anthony said. "I'm sorry," he added for good measure.

Nick nodded. "Thank you, Anthony." Realizing the rare opportunity that was being presented to him to delve a little bit into his reclusive son's personal life, he asked, "What did you guys talk about?"

Anthony shrugged. "Nothing much, really."

Nick winked at his son as he shaved another strip of shaving cream off his face. "Come on, really. What did you say?"

"Dad. Please," Anthony told him as he watched his father delicately handle the razor. He remembered when his dad had taught him how to shave a year or so ago, back when they at least semi-regularly had deep conversations. However, Anthony was starting to drift away in a big way, and he just didn't feel comfortable sharing things with him as much anymore. Now he wanted to share things with girls.

"Alright, suit yourself," Nick told him. "What are your plans for tonight?" He asked his son, wiping the excess cream from his face with a hand towel.

"Well, I was thinking of tagging along with Ciara and her friends to the theatre," Anthony casually mentioned.

Nick smiled at himself in the mirror. "With Ciara and her _friends_? Or Ciara's _friend_?" Nick teased, switching his glance to Anthony.

The sixteen-year-old looked at his feet and shifted uncomfortably, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Without moving his head, he glanced up at Nick. "Danielle," he admitted. "Is that alright?"

Nick was shocked. Had his rebellious, disobedient son just asked for permission to go out? _Finally_, he thought. _Finally, we might be making some progress_. Nick smiled and tried not to chuckle. Even though he could be a handful sometimes, Anthony just wanted to please him deep down, he thought. "Of course that's alright. Just as long as you don't drive, remember?" he reminded his son, since he still had possession of his license.

"I know, Dad." Anthony told him.

Nick cleared his throat and patted his son on the shoulder. "My boy's growing up," he commented. Anthony rolled his eyes a little as Nick passed him.

"So, do we still have a curfew since we'll all be out together?" he asked hopefully. It was obvious that Nick trusted Ciara the most, and if he'd be out with her, maybe he'd be more lax.

"As long as you don't kill anybody, you guys are free tonight," Nick promised. "Your mother and I will be at work, but you can call us if you need us."

"I know, Dad," Anthony said. It was something that had been drilled into their heads since they were twelve. "Oh, by the way, Danielle's here. She asked if she could just hang out until we went to the movie."

"Yeah, that's fine," Nick said. "Just stay out of my beer," he teased, knowing that his kids, even Anthony, were probably the only three teenagers in Las Vegas who would actually obey the command.

"Sure thing, Dad," Anthony chuckled. "I'm going to go back downstairs now, okay?"

"Alright, have fun," Nick said.

Anthony disappeared down the stairs and Nick sat on the bed so he could put on his shoes and socks. Sara was putting a pair of studs in her ears at her vanity table. "Anthony's crushing on Danielle," he told his wife. "That's so funny." He smiled as he worked one blue sock onto his foot.

Sara shook her head and looked at her husband in the mirror. "He's a teenager, Nick, in case you haven't noticed," she reminded him. "And it's funny that you feel so differently about Ciara dating. With Anthony it's funny, and with Ciara it's the worst thing in the world."

Nick chuckled and looked at his feet. "But Ciara's my little girl," he reasoned.

Sara stood up and faced Nick, placing her hands on his chest and rubbing a little bit. "But Anthony's your little boy," she argued.

"I know, and I love them both..." Nick trailed off.

Sensing that he had more to say, Sara said, "But?"

"But...come on, Sara, you know how it is. We see it at work all the time. Girls are more vulnerable. It's just the way it is. I hate it and you hate it, but really. I worry about her all the time when she's out. Really, it's not that I don't trust her, it's that I don't trust the boys she goes out with," he confessed.

Sara kissed him softly. "Nick, you're so sweet. I worry about her too, but she's a smart girl. I think she has pretty good judgment and is almost ready to take care of herself."

Nick nodded, trying to accept what his wife was saying. It was just hard to believe that the baby he'd brought home yesterday was almost a woman, ready to make her own way in the world with nothing stopping her. And to tell the truth, it scared him to death.

Sara cupped his face in her hands and gave him a slow, tender kiss, then pulled back. "You're so sexy when you're being overprotective," she whispered.

Nick smirked, "I can't help it. We've seen so much, Sar."

Sara nodded and allowed Nick to pull her back for another kiss, situating her in his lap. They enjoyed each other for almost a minute before they heard laughing coming from downstairs, reminded them of the teenagers in the house, and the fact they needed to go to work. "Mmmm." Sara pulled back and stroked Nick's cheek. "I hate to end this, but our duties are calling," she told him. Nick gave her one last kiss and then helped her up. They headed down the stairs to the kitchen, where they greeted Danielle along with their own two teenagers.

"We're going to work now," Nick announced. "Have fun at your movie. Ciara, no curfew tonight, but call us when you get home."

Ciara grinned. "Awesome, thanks Daddy!"

"We'll see you soon," Sara said, opening the front door.

"Bye, Mr. Stokes, bye Mrs. Stokes," Danielle said. "Thanks for letting me hang out here."

"No problem, Danielle," Nick said, smiling.

"Bye, guys," Anthony said.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Ciara promised. As the two adult Stokes left the house, Ciara locked the door behind them. "What do you guys want to do?" she asked.

Anthony glanced unsurely at Danielle. "Actually...Danielle was talking earlier about how I might give her a guitar lesson sometime. We could go do that now," he proposed.

Danielle smiled and nodded. Ciara shrugged. "Whatever. I'll be in my room," she said. "We need to leave for the movie at seven," she called back as she went back to her room.

Logan would have to be back before then if he still wanted to join them. Anthony let out a breath and turned to Danielle. "Would you like a lesson right now?" he asked her, checking to make sure.

Danielle smiled and nodded once again. "Of course," she told him, but wasn't sure if he meant in the living room or downstairs in his room. Her question was answered when he opened the basement door and motioned his head for her to join him. Danielle felt butterflies in her stomach, excited that she got to spend more time alone with him. Soon, they had reached the bedroom he shared with Logan. He quickly shoved some dirty clothes under his bed and cleared some books off his desk chair.

"Take a seat," he told her politely, motioning for her to sit down. Danielle smiled and took a seat on the bed while Anthony got his guitar out and sat down on his desk chair. "So, first I'll teach you a G chord," Anthony said, holding the guitar. "You put your index finger _here_, and your middle finger _here_, and your pinkie _here_," he said, demonstrating as he spoke. Once his fingers were in place, he strummed the strings a few times. "Now you try," he said, offering the guitar to her. She tentatively took it and mimicked his finger placements. When she strummed at the guitar, Anthony winced at the sound.

Danielle saw his face and laughed at herself. "Oh, shoot, that wasn't right, was it?"

Shaking his head, Anthony said, "No, not really. You need to do it more like _this_." He moved off his desk chair to the bed on her left and covered her hand with his. "Here, here, and here," he demonstrated again. The feeling of her hand under his alone was enough to make Anthony so happy that he could die having lived a fulfilled life.

Danielle felt her face blush, because she was enjoying the feeling of his hand over hers. She tried to shrug it off.

"You've just gotta hold the strings down hard." Anthony told her. They had both been stealing glances at each other when they thought the other couldn't see, and then they finally looked at each other at the same time. They looked into each other's eyes for a minute and Anthony thought they may kiss when the door flew open, and in walked Logan.

Logan stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before his eyes. Logan knew that Anthony had had a thing for Danielle for just as long as he had, but to bring the girl into the very room that they shared was just plain low. He gritted his teeth and put on a fake smile. "Hi Dani," he said. "Hi Anthony."

"Hey, Logan," they said together.

"Did you have a good time at Andrew's?" Anthony asked, though he really couldn't care less.

"It was fine." Logan told him, setting his backpack down and grabbing a couple items from his own desk. Though his brother didn't have the decency, Logan decided he should leave them alone to have some privacy. He could use the knowledge that Anthony had a girl alone in his room to his advantage later as blackmail if needed.

"Oh, I'll be going to the movies with you all later too. Hope you don't mind," Anthony smugly told his brother, knowing he probably wouldn't like it.

Logan bit back a few nasty words, instead saying, "I'll be upstairs watching TV."

"Alright, suit yourself," Anthony said. Logan turned on his heel and left the room, closing the door behind him. The sixteen-year-old redhead still inside the bedroom turned his attention back to the particularly beautiful girl he was sitting with. "So try that a few more times," Anthony said, referring to the G chord. Danielle put her fingers on the strings, this time in the right place, and played the chord perfectly.

"Is that right?" she asked, her beautiful brown eyes meeting his, boring into him as though she could pierce all his thoughts and know everything about him. Anthony swallowed a hard, dry swallow.

"Perfect." He barely croaked out, speaking of both her finger placement and of her. Anthony had already kissed several girls in his life, but he'd never been this nervous before. He saw Danielle's tongue dart out quickly to wet her lips in anticipation, so he slowly leaned forward. Moments later, their lips met in their first tentative kiss. He gave her one sweet kiss, and then pulled back to gauge her reaction. What Anthony saw - her eyes closed and a serene look on her face - gave him more confidence, so he leaned forward again and kissed her more confidently this time. Anthony brought his hand up to caress her cheek lightly as he dipped his head to the side. After kissing this way for about fifteen seconds, Anthony decided to up the ante. He was enjoying this way too much, and from the way Danielle was breathing, it seemed like she was too. He let his tongue taste her beautiful, perfect lips, and smiled when she opened her mouth to his. Soon, their tongues were dueling sensually and Anthony didn't think he could ever live again without her.

Anthony felt her hand go around his neck to bring her closer, and it became apparent that the guitar was getting in the way of where they wanted to go. Danielle whimpered a little as he pulled away to take the guitar strap from around her shoulder and set it gently on the floor. He then got back to business, capturing her lips again. Danielle began stroking his chest and Anthony's hand nervously disappeared under her shirt. Minutes later, they were breathing heavily as Danielle pulled back from the kiss. "We should stop." She told him, catching her breath.

Also catching his breath, Anthony said, "Yeah." He pulled his hand out from under her shirt, though the sensation of her skin under his was soon missed. It was a good thing they'd stopped then, because mere seconds later, Ciara burst into the room, tipped off by a pissed-off Logan that there may be a little something more than a simple guitar lesson going on in the bedroom. Luckily, neither Anthony nor Danielle looked too flustered, and so Ciara, who still suspected that something had been going on, pretended not to know what had been going on only seconds earlier.

"Mark just called, he says he needs a ride to the theatre," she said.

Anthony cleared his throat a little. "Okay. Are we leaving soon then?" he asked his sister as Danielle uncomfortably tucked some hair behind her ear and brought her legs up to sit in a pretzel position.

"Yeah, in like fifteen minutes." She looked at the pair, not having been born yesterday. She hoped Danielle would pick someone better than her brother to do anything with. Honestly, Ciara thought she deserved better. "Danielle, can you come help me pick out what to wear?" she suggested.

As much as Danielle didn't want to leave Anthony, refusing Ciara's suggestion would be too obvious. "Sure," she said, standing up and following the blonde out of the bedroom. Before leaving, she looked back apologetically at Anthony and shrugged a little bit, and then stepped out, closing the door behind her.

Anthony sighed and rested his head in his hand. Wow, that was close. Not the part where they were almost caught, but rather, what they were actually doing and where it might have headed had Danielle not put on the brakes. Thank goodness for that girl's judgment, he thought. It had just saved them from a potentially disastrous situation on many levels.

Danielle followed Ciara up the basement stairs wordlessly, hoping she wouldn't say anything about what she'd just seen. She wondered if Logan had said anything to her.

Ciara walked back to her bedroom and closed the door after Danielle came in. "Are you into my brother?" Ciara asked her friend right off the bat, folding her arms over her chest.

Danielle sighed and sat down on her friend's bed. They'd been good friends since they were eight, and Danielle had only recently started hanging out with her brothers. "What if I am?" she retorted.

Ciara shrugged. "No big deal. I was just wondering."

"Well, maybe a little bit," Danielle confessed. "He is really good-looking, and he's got that bad boy air to him too."

"Aww, come on, Dani. You can do so much better than my dorky brother."

Dani laughed uncomfortably. Trying to change the subject, she said, "So, what are you thinking of wearing?"

Even though Ciara could see that Dani was trying to get off the topic of Anthony, and although she wanted to find out more about her strange infatuation with Anthony, Ciara could feel her friend's discomfort and she let it go. "Well, here are my choices. Item number one: a halter-top that my father would never let me out of the house with." Ciara reached into her closet a second time, saying, "Item number two: a top I just bought last weekend at the mall, and item number three: the classic tried-and-true black t-shirt." Ciara looked gorgeous in black, and she knew it. Her blonde hair contrasted beautifully and she used that fact to her advantage.

Dani didn't think Ciara needed the halter to wow the guys, and didn't need the chance getting in trouble with her father. "Definitely the black shirt." Danielle advised her. Ciara smiled and tossed the other two shirts on her bed and then took the black shirt off the hanger. "I do like that new shirt from the mall though," Dani told her as Ciara turned around and took off the shirt she wore to school that day.

"Thanks. Cost me two weeks' allowance, but I think I'll save it for my real date with Jason tomorrow." Ciara told her, pulling the black shirt over her head. The girls changed all the time in front of each other, after gym class, at sleepovers, and while shopping, so it was no big deal at all for them.

The doorbell chimed from downstairs, and Ciara said, "I'll get that." She raced down the staircase, Dani not far behind, and answered the door. Mark was there, all ready to head to the theatre. "Hi Mark," Ciara said with her usual smile.

"Hi," he returned, stepping inside the house.

"Anthony, Logan!" Ciara called. "Get up here, we're leaving!"

The two boys were at the door right away, ready to go. Ciara hit the kitchen lights, grabbed her purse, and ushered everybody out the door, locking it behind her. Time for their well-deserved night at the movies.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** (from Chloe) Apologies for the long wait, everybody. It's not Hanna's fault, it's my fault. It's a combination of summer school, work, just random busyness, that sort of thing. Oh, and by the way, if you haven't seen _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_ yet, then you simply must go see it. Anyway, without further ado, here's Chapter Four! As always, this is a cowrite with **bauerfreak**. Hanna, a million thanks to you - it's a pleasure writing.

* * *

A few hours later, the group of seven teenagers came out of the movie doors laughing and carrying on. _Spider-Man 3_ had been a big hit amongst them. Ciara had her arm casually around Dani as they walked towards the clear glass doors. "I can't believe you have a crush on Tobey Maguire," Ciara told her friend Dani. "He's practically old enough to be your father."

Dani rolled her eyes, her face blushing a little bit. "He's hot for an older guy, what can I say?" she admitted as the others trailed behind them.

Ciara leaned into her ear and whispered, "You better get over your thing for Anthony if you ever want a chance with _him_," she teased her best friend. Dani laughed in embarrassment and pushed her friend away. She slowed down a bit so she could hold hands with Jason. Hopefully, they could have a nice goodnight kiss that night since her parents weren't home.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, Grissom handed out assignment slips to all those gathered around. As Sara took her slip, she read off the summary out loud. "Dead body in Summerlin." She raised her eyebrows. "Pricey."

Grissom said, "Nick, I want you to go with her."

"Sure thing," Nick replied.

"Warrick, I've got some guy who DFO'd in front of the Palermo," Grissom said, holding out the slip to him.

"Done fell over," Warrick said. "Sweet. I'm on it."

"Catherine, you're with me. We've got a home invasion and robbery off Tropicana."

"Alrighty," Catherine agreed. Looking around, a bit confused, Grissom asked, "Where's Greg?"

"It's his first night off in two weeks," Sara answered.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Grissom said. He was getting a bit senile. "Alright, off to your assignments everyone, and be on the lookout for drunk drivers this time of night," he reminded them, since it was getting late into the night.

Nick and Sara got their things ready and prepared to go off to their crime scene. Nick could tell his wife was worried about their own kids, out in a big group this time of night. "Call 'em, Sar, if you're that worried." Nick told her as he started up the Denali.

Sara pursed her lips in thought. "Nick, you know what it's like to be out with your friends. The last thing they want is to get a phone call from their dumb old mom."

Nick shrugged. "I'm not worried about them. Ciara and Logan are responsible, even if Anthony isn't, and they're in a public place so I don't think they're going to do anything stupid, if you know what I mean. Besides, they're good kids. I think we can trust them, don't you?"

Sara bit her lip nervously. "I guess so," she agreed. "I'm their mother, though, Nick. It's my job to worry."

Nick smirked at her answer. Sara was the queen of worrying about her children. It had taken him weeks to talk her into letting them stay at home without a sitter in high school. They rarely gave their parents any reason not to trust them, apart from Anthony of course. "I know, baby, I know. Just relax. They've got their phones if there's a problem."

Sara nodded and looked out the window as Nick pulled onto the road.

* * *

Meanwhile, Greg Sanders was sitting at a picnic table outside the Ice Parlor Palace licking a strawberry cone along with his new girlfriend Laura. He did a double take when he saw three familiar faces emerge from the theatre across the street, part of a group of teenagers. Greg knew those kids! He zoned out on what Laura was saying as he looked on. He watched as Anthony - or was it Logan? - approached a pretty brunette who seemed to be having a great time. Their fingers nonchalantly intertwined and Greg snickered to himself when he saw that, remembering what it had been like to be sixteen.

Greg's attention shifted to the other twin, who was walking behind the pair, looking on with a tinge of jealousy on his face. Beside them walked the blonde that Greg knew was, without a doubt, Ciara. She flirted with the boy next to her, laughing and blushing while playfully tossing her hair. Ahead of them were two other boys horsing around and pushing each other while laughing loud enough that Greg could hear them clearly. Seeing them reminded Greg of being a teenager - the jealousy of seeing the girl you liked with another boy, being that other boy, fooling around with your friends - he could remember it all.

He also remembered that it really wasn't cool to be acknowledged by an adult in public, so as they approached the Ice Palace Parlor and ordered their ice cream, he made the choice not to get up or wave at them.

"You know that bunch?" Laura asked her date, one of her eyebrows quirking a little bit.

Greg smiled a little bit. "You could say that. Known their parents for a long time, and three of 'em since birth." He informed her, watching the triplets and their friends walk over to the ice cream stand, laughing and having a good time.

"Whose kids are they?" Laura asked as she took a lick of her cone.

"Their parents are Nick and Sara Stokes. The two redheads and the pretty blonde girl." He pointed them out to Laura.

She looked and nodded. "The girl looks like a heartbreaker."

Greg laughed a little. "She got her parents' best features," he admitted. "But she's a sweet girl."

Laura smiled and glanced back at the teenagers. "She seems like fun," she commented as she saw the blonde flip her hair and laugh.

Greg nodded. "She really is. Very outgoing and has the most insane sense of humour." As the teenagers disappeared around the corner at the end of the block, Greg turned his full attention back to Laura and resumed their temporarily interrupted conversation.

The teenagers had their ice cream cones and cups in hand as they wandered down the block, oblivious to anyone else around. They were just concentrating on having fun. "You guys wanna sit down for a while?" Ciara asked everyone as she spotted some picnic tables ahead. Everyone nodded and agreed, so they all plopped down, eating, and laughing, and talking all at the same time.

"Let me taste that, Dani," Ciara said, pointing towards Dani's Tiger Claw ice cream.

"Sure," she agreed, holding up the cone towards her best friend. Ciara leaned over and licked.

"Hey, that's good!" she said. "Taste mine," she said, offering her cone to her friend.

Dani licked Ciara's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream cone and made a face. "Gross."

"You guys are nasty." Anthony told his sister and his crush. "You're not related, and you're sharing ice cream?" Guys seemed to have a different idea on what was okay to share.

Ciara rolled her eyes at her brother. "Shut up. You should know I changed in front of Dani today. Do you have a problem with that too?"

Anthony shrugged. "You should see a guys' locker room," he pointed out. Ciara and Dani shuddered simultaneously.

"I did not need that image in my head, Anthony," Dani said, giving him a pointed stare.

"Would you rather I share with you?" Ciara asked jokingly.

Anthony shook his head. "Gross. No. Well, actually, I would like a taste of yours, Dani," he admitted.

Ciara snorted.

"What, I can't share with her but you can?" Anthony gave Dani a knowing look, clearly reminding her that ice cream wouldn't be the first thing they'd shared that day.

Ciara rolled her eyes again. "Whatever." She told them, and turned to look at her boyfriend. She smiled at him, and held up her cone. "You want a lick?" she teased knowingly. He smirked and nodded, and took a small lick from the bottom. Everyone else was distracted, so he felt a little bold. Jason took a lick of his own strawberry cone and leaned forward.

"Want a taste of mine?" he murmured quietly. Ciara smiled and giggled at his clever scheme.

"Of course," she told him, and then put her hand on the back of his neck to pull him down for a sweet kiss.

"You guys are gross," Braden yelled down from the end of the table. All eyes immediately landed on the two of them, and Ciara blushed and giggled while Jason smirked at his friends.

"At least I've got someone to kiss," Jason jabbed.

Braden put his hand over his heart in mock insult. "Ouch! I think that's going to bruise." Jason laughed. Braden was definitely the clown of the group. To spite Braden, Ciara looked over at Jason and raised her eyebrows. Jason, knowing exactly what she meant, leaned in for another kiss. "Yuck!" Braden pretended. Dani smiled a half-smile at Anthony, and they could both tell that the other would like nothing more to be kissing each other silly.

Braden began talking to some of the other people in the group, and Dani and Anthony continued to look at each other. "So...um...did you like the movie?" Anthony asked nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. He really wanted to kiss her right now, but kissing alone in his room was quite different from making out with her in public, with their group of friends all around. At least for Jason and Ciara, it was common knowledge that they were an item.

Dani smiled and fluffed at her hair. "I liked it a lot. Especially when Spider-Man kisses his girl in that web."

"Figured you would," Anthony joked. "Hopeless romantic," he teasingly muttered.

Danielle swatted his arm playfully. "Did you like it?" she asked.

"Of course! The special effects on the Sandman just don't get any better than that," he said. Anthony had wanted to go into computer graphics since he was a little kid. He'd even bought an animation program for his computer and was getting pretty good at it, too. Anthony looked around at the other teenager for a moment. His sister and Jason were still necking, and the others were talking. "You wanna go walk down the street a little?" he asked her quietly, hoping he could also maybe sneak a little kiss on the way.

"Sure. But we can't go too far," she reminded him, since they were out in a group. Her mother and his parents would definitely not like them wandering away from the bunch. They were all a bunch of worrywarts. Anthony, in his rare display of chivalry that only peeked out around Dani, put his hand at the small of her back to steer her.

They walked down the sidewalk in a bit of a comfortable silence. The pair had barely reached out of everyone's sight, when they both jumped on what was clearly on both minds. Anthony cupped her face, and kissed her gently. He pulled back to gauge her reaction. "Wow." She told him. "Um...is this a good idea?"

"It's totally up to you," he reassured. "We don't have to go as far as we went earlier."

Dani blushed and looked at her feet. "That was a bit much, a bit fast," she admitted. "I'm sorry, I should have stopped myself…you…us…whatever."

"Ssshh," Anthony said. "We got caught up in the moment. We won't do it again, at least until we're both ready," he comforted.

Dani smiled up at him. "Okay," she agreed, kissing him softly on the lips, standing on her tiptoes to reach. He ducked his head down to return the kiss and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. They kissed a few more times before Dani looked away and resumed their walk, intertwining her fingers with his. They walked in silence for a block or two.

Of course, given that it was Las Vegas, it was not long before they were stopped by a skinny dude offering them the best high of their lives. After vehemently refusing several times, they were finally able to move on. Dani was a little bit unnerved, so to lighten the mood, Anthony said, "I wouldn't touch that stuff if you paid me a million dollars."

Dani smiled at him nervously. "Have you?" he asked her, fully expecting a no. Dani looked away before she answered, "Yes. Once."

Anthony gaped a little at her admission. "Really?"

She nodded and smiled, kind of liking that he was so shocked.

"When?"

Dani bit her lip. "Um...last fall with a few friends that didn't turn out to be such great ones. Remember when I had out of school suspension for three days?"

Anthony nodded as they continued walking.

"That's what it was," she told him, not believing she was spilling the beans to him like this.

"What did your mom say?" he asked her.

"Nothing. She doesn't care. She never cares about anything I do," Dani said, bitterness rolling out of her mouth in the form of words. Dani kicked a can towards the road. "I hate her," she quietly admitted.

Anthony couldn't say he related. He knew sometimes that he disliked his parents, and sometimes he'd really really disliked them, but thinking back, he could never honestly say that he'd ever hated them. Anthony hugged Dani close into him, saying nothing, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He kissed the top of her head sweetly. They were heading back to the group now. Both could hear their friends giggling and carrying on about whatever just around the corner.

"Thanks for listening," Dani told him honestly, looking up at him.

"No problem," he told her as they joined the other guys. Ciara looked up to see her brother and best friend returning, his arm around Dani's shoulders. Who knew Anthony could be so nice to another human being?

"So...wanna head somewhere else or call it a night?" she asked everyone, looking around.

"I think I'm ready to pack it in," Dani said.

"Me too," Anthony quickly agreed. With the exception of Braden, who had the energy of a power plant and whose claim to fame was staying awake for eight days straight, everyone agreed.

And so, the teenagers returned to their cars and climbed in. "Bye, Braden, bye, Mark!" they called over.

"Peace out," Braden said, thumping his chest and making the peace sign.

Anthony chuckled. "Peace out."

Ciara, Logan, Anthony, Danielle, and Jason all piled into the Stokesmobile. Ciara, always the responsible and in control one, asked, "Seatbelts on?"

"Yes," everyone replied in unison. She pulled the car into gear but barely had time to do a shoulder-check before being rammed so hard that everyone in the vehicle saw stars.

Everyone's bodies got jerked around a bit, and once they had recovered from the initial shock, Ciara turned around in her seat. "Is everyone okay?" She asked, looking around. The other four were all rubbing their necks, but they nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Logan told her, but I bet we have whiplash." He told her honestly. Ciara felt tears stinging in her eyes. She was scared.

"Wh...what do I do?" she asked the other passengers, feeling panic start to seep into her.

"Calm, down, CiCi." Logan assured her, taking off his seat belt. He was a good guy to have around when things were rough, because he was the calm and sensitive one of the bunch. "Take a few deep breaths, and then we'll go check to see if everyone in the other car is okay."

Ciara took another deep breath and let it out, nodding at her brother's suggestion. She shakily took off her seatbelt and opened her car door. It felt like she was in a dream. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before, and she was frightened. Logan walking next to her reassured her everything was going to be okay. He walked with her to the driver's side of the other car and tapped on the window. The driver rolled down the window slowly, looking just as bewildered as they did. There were two teenagers in there, a boy and a girl, but Ciara didn't recognize them.

"Hey, man. Are you both okay?" Logan asked them. The teenage boy, who had been driving, nodded and looked at the girl. Ciara guessed they were dating by the way she was dressed promiscuously, and she couldn't hide the fact that her top had been moved around slightly from making out.

The girl sitting next to him tucked her hair behind her ears and pulled her skirt down a little. "We're fine, thanks," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Are you sure?" Logan asked, peering around the car. He noticed a pack of condoms chucked in the back seat and mentally shook his head.

"Seriously dude, we're okay," the guy said.

"You know, you hit us pretty hard," Logan pointed out. "We were hardly moving, just pulling out of our parking space."

"Sorry about that," the driver said. "I'll pay for the damage." He got out of the car and he and Logan traded information. They got back into their own cars and the guy and the girl drove off.

Logan sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he turned to survey the damage. The others had now all gotten out of the car to stretch and recuperate from their little scare. It was dark, but the lights from the ice cream stand let them see at least a little bit. Logan saw that the left headlight was busted out, and the hood was slightly raised because of the impact. Paint was chipped away in several areas.

"Oh my God, Logan. I'm so scared." Ciara confessed, rubbing her hand on her forehead in worry.

Logan stood up straight and walked over to his sister, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Why are you so scared? It's over, and you're okay," he pointed out, and could tell his sister was struggling not to cry.

"Mom and Dad are gonna kill us. We wrecked the car," she reminded him, her voice still shaky from the incident.

Logan sighed. They might not be very pleased with them, but Logan knew they were reasonable people. "Ciara, I think they'll be glad we're okay."

"We'll have to take care of this once we're at home," Logan said, gesturing towards the damaged car. "First we have to make sure everybody gets home," Ciara reminded him. "Yeah...Okay, everybody back in!" Logan called. The other teenagers climbed back in and Logan took over driving from Ciara. After they dropped off Jason at his house, (Dani was sleeping over), Logan drove back to the Stokes house. As the four teens entered the house, Ciara went straight up to her bedroom without so much as a goodnight. Dani and Anthony glanced at each other worriedly, knowing that Ciara was more shaken up than she was letting on.

Dani followed right behind her and knocked softly on her door. "Ciara, can I come in?"

She heard a tearful yes, so she softly opened the door and closed it behind her. Danielle didn't see her best friend at first, but soon saw the black top she'd been wearing fly out of the closet, being discarded on the floor. Ciara was wiping at her eyes still a little as she began to change into her pajamas. Dani sighed and sat down on her bed while she changed out of sight. "CiCi, are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should call your parents," she suggested to her friend. The triplets, unlike Dani, seemed to have really good parents, who would drop everything if they knew Ciara was upset like this.

"No," Ciara said quickly. "We don't need to disturb them at work."

"Ciara, your parents are there for you. I think it would be a good idea to call them," Danielle suggested.

"But I don't want to!" Ciara said, feeling a bit like a five-year-old, but not really caring. "I just want to go to bed."

Dani was getting a bit nervous...she'd never seen Ciara like this before. Ciara was the type of girl who would laugh Death in the face, not be shaken up by a step up from a fender bender. "What's wrong, CiCi?" Dani pressed.

"It's just PMS. I'm feeling really emotional right now," Ciara lied, pulling the first excuse she could think of out of the air.

Dani didn't fall for it for one second. "No it's not. You borrowed a tampon from me last week, remember?"

Ciara stepped out of her closet wearing a red tank top and plaid shorts. "Look, I really just want to go to bed," Ciara said. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Dani nodded, knowing her best friend well enough to know that when Ciara wanted to drop something, it was in your best interest to drop it. "Fine," Dani agreed, finding her bundled up sleeping bag in the corner of the room. She really wasn't in the mood to go to bed yet, but Ciara wasn't going to be much fun tonight.

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth." Dani said, taking her pajamas with her, and her toothbrush. Ciara just nodded and climbed into her cozy bed, wanting to sleep this night off. She knew her parents would find out about it eventually. Ciara wasn't sure why she was so nervous about it. What Dani said was right - her parents were there for her. But for some reason she didn't want them right now.

Dani huffed and went towards the bathroom. She heard the guys talking downstairs and sighed as she changed direction and entered the kitchen where the guys were. They looked at Dani.

"What's up with her?" Logan asked, more concerned than annoyed.

Dani shrugged. "I don't know. She says it's PMS, but I know for a fact it's not."

Simultaneously, the twins looked at each other and said, "We know."

Dani chuckled. "What, you keep track of her menstrual cycle?"

A bit embarrassed, Logan said, "It's sort of hard not to. You can always tell because she drinks an insane amount of milk and eats an inordinate amount of red onion."

Dani laughed. "Yeah, I guess she does."

"Anyway, we just called Mom," Anthony said. "She's on her way home now, but I think Dad is staying at work. They were at a scene, so..." he trailed off.

"Yeah," Dani said, understanding what he meant.

"You can go to bed now if you want," Anthony suggested.

Dani shrugged and looked around the room. "I don't know where I'm going to sleep. Normally Ciara and I just share her bed because it's big enough, but she's sort of sprawled out all over the whole thing, so there's no room for me."

Anthony and Logan looked at one another. "We can pull out the hide-a-bed if you want," Anthony suggested. "I know it's less than ideal, but I just don't know where else you could go."

Dani smiled at how chivalrous he could be when he wanted to. "Sure, that would be great." She grinned at him. Was it wrong to want to share a bed with him? Of course, they never would at this point.

Anthony nodded and motioned for her to follow him. "Logan, will you help me pull this out?" he asked his twin. Logan came in moments later, and together they pulled the family couch out into a bed for Dani. They found bedding for her, and soon it was made up.

"I"m not ready to go to bed yet. I'm not really tired," she confessed to them.

"Neither am I," Anthony said.

"I am," Logan piped up. "As soon as Mom gets back, I'm going to bed."

Just then, Sara walked in the door, a worried look on her face. "I saw the car. Are you guys alright? What happened? Where's Ciara?"

"We got into a small accident after the movie. A guy rammed us as we were pulling out. We're all fine, except Ciara seems really shaken up. She's in bed now, if you want to see her." Sara nodded and headed right up the stairs, disappearing into Ciara's room.

"Well," Logan said, looking at Dani and Anthony, "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"Night, Logan," Anthony said.

"Goodnight," Dani replied. "Thanks for the ride."

Logan's absence left Dani and Anthony alone on the hide-a-bed. They were both sitting on the edge, and it wasn't technically a bed, was it? It's not like they were under the covers. Anthony tucked a strand of fallen hair behind Dani's ear. She smiled and moved her shoulders a bit because she was nervous. Their kiss earlier had really knocked her socks off. "Are you sure you're okay?" Anthony asked her gently.

Dani nodded and looked away. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just glad we're all okay," she told him, then cleared her throat. Sara was upstairs. "So, do you, um, wanna watch TV or something?" she suggested. Anthony nodded and found the remote on the stand. They found the Letterman show and started watching.

* * *

Meanwhile, upstairs, Sara had pushed her daughter's door open to check on her. "Hey, honey," Sara said as she entered the dark room.

"Hi, Mommy," Ciara said through quieted sniffles.

"Are you okay?" Sara asked. "I saw the car and heard about the accident."

"I'm fine," Ciara said. "I know you're not _hurt_," Sara said. "But are you _okay_?"

"Not really," Ciara admitted after a second. "I don't even know what's wrong...just...we got hit and it bothered me. I don't know why."

Sara stroked Ciara's hair. "I know, sweetie. Things like that are scary," Sara empathized. "But you're okay, and I know that getting in a car accident isn't fun and it's not something you forget within ten minutes, but believe me when I say you'll be alright, okay?"

Ciara nodded into her pillow. "Okay."

Sara reached out and began to rub soothing circles on her daughter's back. Having her mother there was comforting, though she'd convinced herself she didn't need it before. Her mom and dad were always reassuring presences in her life. "Does Dad know what happened?" she asked a bit timidly, afraid he was going to be mad.

Sara nodded. He'd of course been concerned with their safety first, but wasn't exactly thrilled that the teens he'd been paying high insurance on anyway had gotten in a wreck. Now the insurance bill would be through the roof. "Yeah, sweetie. He's just glad you're okay."

"Good." The circles her mother was rubbing on her back were intoxicating, and after not very long, Ciara fluttered into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Anthony had never been a fan the Letterman show, a fact he was being reminded of very quickly as time wore on. Finally, after he could stand it no longer, he said to Danielle, "I'm getting bored. Do you want to watch something else?"

Danielle laughed. "I was only watching this because I thought you liked it."

Anthony grinned. "Okay...what do you want to watch?"

"A movie, maybe?" Danielle suggested. "I know we just saw Spider-Man, but are you up for another?"

"I am indeed. Your pick – all our movies are over there," he said, pointing towards a shelf. Dani went to peruse the movies and came back only moments later with _Titanic _in hand. Though he wouldn't admit it to save his life, Anthony loved that movie and was really happy that she'd chosen it. If Ciara knew he loved it, he'd never hear the end of it. It was interesting, and the part with the ship sinking was exciting. However, the movie was over three hours long, so Anthony didn't think they'd be able to make it through.

"Go ahead." Anthony smiled as he scooted back on the hide-a-bed so they could sit comfortably. Dani popped the movie into the DVD player and then turned around to join Anthony on the couch. Her heart flip flopped a little because they would be technically sitting on a bed together. It's not like anything would happen in the middle of the living room. Anthony smiled and put his arm around her shoulders as the movie started. "I bet it's gonna be a surprise ending." Anthony smiled.

Dani snorted. "Yeah right." They watched about five minutes of the movie, but being on a bed in the dark with someone you're extremely attracted to does things to a person, and before long they were once again making out.

Anthony was definitely talented in this area. He knew exactly how to kiss her, and with exactly the right amount of pressure. He knew he was doing well when she started letting out these sexy little sounds of pleasure that drove his sixteen-year-old body crazy. Their tongues began to dance together and Anthony's hand was cupping her neck, tilting her head to get a better angle.

They were both so into the kiss, that they didn't hear Sara coming back down the stairs until it was too late.

The lights flicked on and Anthony and Dani squinted at the sudden illumination of the room. The only thought that was going through Anthony's head was _Oh, shit_. He knew that he'd never have another girlfriend again after this.

Sara cleared her throat. "Hi, kids," she greeted somewhat smugly, slightly enjoying the embarrassment she knew they were both experiencing.

"Hi, Mrs. Stokes," Dani said, smiling sheepishly.

"Anthony, I know it's not that late for a Friday night, but I think you should go to bed now," she said, her tone clearly indicating that it was not a request. Anthony, embarrassed and ashamed, stood up from the hide-a-bed, said a quick goodnight to Dani and Sara, and slunk downstairs to his room.

Dani cleared her throat uncomfortably and smoothed out her shirt, though it was just fine. She avoided eye contact with Sara. It was so embarrassing to be caught making out by an adult – especially the guy's mother.

"Dani, I thought you'd be sleeping in Ciara's room?" Sara asked, her hands on her hips, but she didn't look intimidating. Dani could tell Sara was just upset with Anthony.

"Um, I was, but Ciara seemed really upset so the guys made this up for me. I hope you don't mind," she said nervously.

Sara shook her head. "No, it's fine. You have enough blankets?"

Dani nodded and adjusted her covers around her. She wouldn't dare try to go seek out Anthony at all that night, because Sara knew her mom well.

"Well, I'm heading back to work. Nick is gonna try to get off early."

"Okay," Dani replied. "Is it alright if I keep watching the movie? Ciara's not too much fun at the moment, but I'm not really tired enough to go to sleep."

"Sure, that's fine with me," Sara said. "Either Nick or I will make breakfast when we get back, so be prepared for a little noise from the kitchen if you're sleeping."

Dani chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I sleep like a log."

Sara laughed. "Well, that's good to know. Anyway, I'd better get back, so good night."

"Good night," Dani said. After Sara left, Dani hit the Play button and kept watching _Titanic_, the taste of Anthony still lingering on her lips.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Review please:) 


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